


He loved someone who loved him too

by SundayZenith



Category: Mary Poppins (Movies), Mary Poppins Returns - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 16:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17604758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: Five times Jack was considered part of the Banks family





	He loved someone who loved him too

**Michael**

 

Michael Banks was clearing in the middle of leaving- he had one arm in his coat and was wrestling his other arm into what seemed to be a partially inverted sleeve, his hat between his teeth, suitcase in hand, and his children rushing between his knees- while something in the kitchen seemed to be smoking slightly.

 

Jack handed the package to little Georgie- who had opened the door for him- and took Michael’s hat and suitcase from him.

 

“Yes, thank you, Good morning, Jack,” Michael said as Ellen rushed forward to righten his sleeve with a _ tut _ . “Jane hasn’t been by this morning.”

 

Jack smiled at his own predictability. “I’m actually here to return somethin’ for the children- you, too, I imagine.” Tucking the hat and case under his arm, Jack took back the package- two different hat boxes stitched together down the middle. Georgie had taken the lid off in curiosity, and cloths of various colors were spilling out. “I would’ve brought it by last night, but that’s when most children sleep, I hear.” That got a laugh out of Annabel and John, Jack noted proudly. 

 

Michael took it from him, still only wearing half of his coat, and pushed aside the cloths. His mouth hung open and he almost dropped the box.

 

Jack took the box back from him before he could, and, stunned, Michael pulled out his late-wife’s ceramic bowl.

 

“How on earth did you…  _ is that a chip _ ?”

 

The Banks children immediately began talking over each other.

 

“-Was our fault, we were fighting-”

 

“-We didn’t mean to, we swear-”

 

“-It’s actually a  _ fixed _ chip, see there, daddy-”

 

Michael put a hand on John’s shoulder, him being the closet to his father, and said, “I-I didn’t even know it was gone.” He ran a finger over the newly repaired wall of the bowl, looking lost for a moment. Then, remembering himself, he looked up. “Thank you for returning it, Jack. You didn’t have to do that. Who repaired this, anyway- it’s remarkably well done.”

 

“One of Mary’s relatives,” John explained.

 

“Mary  _ Poppins _ ? Was it Uncle Albert?”

 

“A cousin of hers, actually.”

 

Michael handed the bowl to John, saying, “Right, of course- Uncle Albert didn’t seem like the fix-it type. Could you kids return this to the nursery?”

 

Annabel took the bowl from John and walked briskly upstairs, bickering with her twin: “Oh, don’t drop it again!” “I’m not, don’t crowd or you’ll make me.”

 

Michael signed. “Georgie?”

 

“I’ll look after them.” George began following his siblings up the stairs, the paused halfway up. Half-leaning over the rail, he called out, “Did Topsy Turvy go turtle again, Jack?”

 

Jack laughed, “Happily.”

 

Georgie nodded and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Michael turned to Jack, opened his mouth, then closed it again, shaking his head. He pulled his other arm into the coat, saying instead, “Did you ever know Katie Nanna?”

 

“I’d heard of her.” Mostly amusing stories of her chasing after the children she nannied. “There had been a rumor about, oh, what was it again? These two little hellion children who chased _ her  _ outta town.”

 

Michael smiled at that. “Kate, my wife, was actually named after her. She was her niece.”

 

“Really?” Jack couldn’t believe it- he had never met Kate Banks, though he had seen her at the park and around Number 17, Cherry Tree Lane over the years- he even remembered being a child himself and watching a young Kate Potts walk boldly up a young Michael sketching in the park.

 

“The rest of Kate’s family worked in pottery- her mother and aunt Katie sculpted and painted that bowl for her,” Michael’s smile changed, “she was so looking forward to teaching the children…”

 

Jack put a hand on Michael’s back and let him collect himself again. Michael took a breath, “Do you think this- who was is? Tilly Tricksy?”

 

“Topsy.”

 

“Right, do you think she gives lessons?”

 

“Actually,” Jack said, “Bert’s should be returning from his travels soon enough- though I’m sure Ms. Topsy Turvy would love to see the children again. He could prob’ly teach them.”

 

Michael chuckled at that and took his hat and suitcase back. “You could stay for breakfast- there’s not much left and I know Jane isn’t here- she’ll be by for dinner tomorrow, we always try to have family dinners at least once a week, you could stop by-” Ellen cleared her throat a little too pointedly from behind them.

 

They shared a look that Jack could  _ almost  _ read. He couldn’t help grinning at it as well.

 

Michael turned back to him, his face no longer that of a loving but weary father or a dreamy artist, but that of a mischievous little brother- even Jack, who was an only child himself, could see it.

 

Jack’s grin turned slightly worried.

 

“You could,” Michael went on, his mustache twitching with amusement, “join us for dinner, tomorrow. I’m sure Jane would  _ love _ to have you there.”

 

Jack removed his hat and held it to his chest. “I would absolutely love to, myself. I could bring somethin’-”

 

Then the mischievous brother was gone, replaced once more by the weary, proud father and homeowner. “No, no, you don’t have to-” Ellen pointedly cleared her throat again “-though if you wouldn’t might, could you, perhaps, take the children to the grocery store? They’ve recently developed a habit of wandering off,” he said fondly. “My sister and I had a sweep to look after us when we got lost. I’d feel better knowing they had a leery to keep an eye out for them.”

 

Placing his hat on his head, Michael looked over his shoulder at Jack from the doorway. “She would have liked you, my Kate,” he said. “For all her sarcasm and wit, she could always appreciate sincerity and was the kindest person I knew.” He turned and walked down the steps. Jack caught “-she would have set you two up herself  _ years _ -” before the door closed after him.

 

“ _ Family _ dinner?”Jack chuckled to himself, as he gathered up his own hat and Topsy’s box.

 

-

**John**

 

It was odd to see the Banks children separated and even odder to see only one Banks twin without the other. John and Annabel had been inseparable even before they had lost their mother, and after they always had Georgie in tow. It was troubling, in fact, to those who knew of the family, to see one of the Banks children on their own.

 

And John was very troubled. 

 

He and Annabel had taken to reading the paper in the morning, wanting to keep an eye on things now that Mr. Dawes, jr., was in charge of the banks again. He seemed much kinder than his bad wolf of a nephew, but after John’s family had nearly lost their house, they had to be sure. They knew all too well what their aunt was fighting and why their father couldn’t be an artist like he wanted, but while Annabel seemed satisfied with ending at the  _ what _ , he wanted to know  _ why _ .

 

_ Why  _ were they in the middle of a Depression, anyway?  _ Why  _ did his aunt have to rally people together to protest and fight for jobs and food? And _ why _ , if the papers said the worst of things were in other countries like America, and that England was fairly well off, all things considered, did he see a breadline stretching around the street, full of mothers and fathers and the elderly and children younger than Georgie?

 

John shuttered to imagine Georgie standing in that line alone.

 

John saw a familiar man on a familiar bike turn the corner, take an apple while the man at the apple cart had his back turned, and tossed it over his shoulder to one of the children in line. The man at the cart looked up, but didn’t seem anything more than mildly annoyed, as if he were used to this.

 

Jack looked up and skidded the bike to a halt before John. Putting one foot on the ground, Jack tipped his hat at the boy, and asked, “What’s got you out so early, John Banks?”

 

John shrugged, thengestering at the line, said, “I had to  _ see _ .”

 

Jack’s smile changed, going from a happy grin to a slightly sad one, a look more at home on his father’s face. For a moment, John thought Jack would scold him, even if it was only lightly, but instead he said, “Your aunt would be very proud of that, John. She’s love to take you along sometime to the soup kitchen.” He dismounted the bike completely. “She hasn’ because she was worried you’d be bored till you’re blind from it all, or that you kid’s’d take it hard. Come on, I’m ahead of things this mornin’, I’ll take you home.”

 

John was reluctant. “I don’t want to risk anyone in my family’s jobs again.”

 

Jack laughed. “I’m clear, John. Us leeries are a close bunch anyway.”

 

John still hesitated, then shook himself. The leeries had done so much for his family the past few months, they wouldn’t throw Jack out if he was a little late, right? 

 

He let Jack help him onto the bike, this time wedged between the ladder and Jack’s back.

 

“You know, John,” Jack said as they kicked off, “I know it all seems so dark-”

 

“-But you can make light yourself, right?” John jumped in.

 

Jack laughed again, “Exactly.”

 

\--

**Annabel**

 

Annabel watched Jack’s head disappear under the sink, which had sprung another leek. While he said he wasn’t much of a plummer, he had offered to take a look at things when it had gone off in the middle of dinner, so they wouldn’t have to wait until morning for the plumber to come so they could turn their water back on. He was, in his own words, a bit of a jack-of-all-trades.

 

Annabel had offered to assist him- which mainly consisted of handing him this tool or that- so she had an idea of what to do when it happened again. 

 

The plumbers were often polite, but they never let her or her siblings or even their father and Aunt Jane near as they worked, and they always charged too much. It was only practical that someone knew how to keep things under control until help arrived and make sure costs weren’t as high as they could be, and Annabel prided herself on her practicality.

 

“Sometimes I wish I were a jack-of-all-trades,” she said, mainly to make conversation.

 

“You could be,” Jack said, “You and your brothers certainly have the makin’ in you, and it’s bloody useful to be’un.”

 

“Yeah, but…” Annabel trailed off, trying to find the right words to ask- John was always better at asking questions than she was. “But how do you learn to be one?” She had almost asked  _ where _ , but being a jack-of-all-trades didn’t seem like the kind of thing you went to school for.

 

“Oh, you jus’ learn a bit of everythin’ as you go- here, take this wrench for a mo’- though I suppose it helps to have a jack to learn from- hand it back, please?”

 

“Good thing we’ve got a Jack right at our family table,” she joked.

 

Jack snorted, then pulled his head out. “Go run and tell your aunt to turn the water back on. Did the best I could, though you migh’ still have to hope for a plumber still in office if you want to take your evening bath.”

 

“We prefer early baths, actually,” she said over her shoulder.

 

\--

**Georgie**

 

“Jack! Hey, Jack! Uncle Jack!”

 

It wasn’t hard to get Jack grinning, but very few things made Jack grin as hard as the sight and sound of little Georgie Banks running across the grass towards him, pursued by his siblings, then by Jane Banks herself. Even if he had seen them all just that morning, giving Jane a ride to work like he did most days now, it always brightened his day like nothing else.

 

_ Leeries of my own heart _ , he had taken to jokingly calling them in his mind.

 

Jack began climbing down the ladder, only to be stopped in his tracks by Georgie’s words.  _ Uncle Jack _ ? Had he heard the boy wrong?

 

Georgie had just about caught up with his ladder when he jumped the rest of the way down and caught the boy in his arms, much like he had the day they had first met Mary Poppins.

 

“Georgie,” Annabel scolded as they caught up, “ _ warn  _ us next time, okay? The park keeper has only so much patience, you know.”

 

“Yes, Georgie,” Jane said, stepping between her older nephew and niece, “Just- what your sister said. Hello, Jack.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

Jack set Georgie down with a slightly bashful, “Hi.”

 

“I just wanted to say hi to Uncle Jack,” Georgie explained, and there it was again,  _ Uncle _ Jack.

 

Jane gave a startled laugh and the twins exchanged a glance before shrugging- so it was just Georgie. Jack was almost disappointed. 

 

“So I’m _ Uncle  _ Jack, now?” He laughed.

 

“Well, you kind of have been for a while,” Annabel jumped in, “Since you helped us turn back time, I’d say.”

 

“Since you tight us to trip a light fantastic,  _ I’d _ say,” John said.

 

“And you’re always at our family dinners and are getting married to Aunt Jane, right?” Georgie asked. “That means you’re family and that you’re our uncle, doesn’t it?”

 

Both he and Jane had gone a little pink around the face at that.  _ Married to Jane Banks _ , if Jack were being perfectly honest, he had daydreamed about just that many times since he had started waving up at her as Bert’s apprentice.

 

“From the mouth of babes, as they say,” Jane finally said. She took his hand and squeezed it. “We’ll let you get back to work- I’m on break now, myself, I really should be getting back soon. Dinner later?”

 

“It isn’ Sunday,” Jack pointed out.

 

Jane laughed again. “At  _ my  _ flat.”

 

Jack grinned back at her. “Wouldn’ miss it for the world.”

 

\--

**Jane**

 

Jane shrugged off her coat, hat already in hand. As she went to place them on her rack, she saw Jack’s hat and coat were already hanging there. She smiled to herself, shaking her head at how  _ endeering _ it was to see their hats hanging side by side.

 

She had given him a key to her flat a month ago, so he had a place nearby to sleep after doing his work as a lamplighter- at the time she had insisted it was because of all the extra room she had- and in that time little things that were just purely  _ Jack _ had began to take over- match boxes on the counter, rags in the sink, his bike was even currently leaning against the wall of the Kitchen.

 

“Jane?” His voice carried down the hall. “Is that you I hear?”

 

“The one and only,” she replied. “Did I wake you?”

 

“Oh, I was jus’ about to wake up anyway.” His head popped up at the door, a few hair still managing to stick up despite how short it was. “How was work?”

 

They set to work on preparing dessert- a simple tart- for Sunday’s family dinner, something they both a come to really look forward to, chatting as they worked around each other. Michael’s birthday was coming up as well, and they were debating what to get him- he had taken up drawing again, now that he and the children were coming over the hill of their grief for Kate, so he might appreciate more charcoles. Or they could pull their money together and get him some paints, something he had only dabbled it, but the challenge of mastering the skill might be good for him.

 

It really was a shame that Jack and Kate had never been in a room together, even if it meant mild embarrassment for her and Michael. They would have gotten along so well.

 

“You might as well move in,” Jane finally said. Jack’s eyes widened. She hurried forward, saying, “We practically live together as is, and I have the strong suspicion that Ellen and the children are planning our wedding as we speak.” Kate would have already broken down the doors to their flat and frogmarched them to sign their licence by now.

 

“Wouldn’ surprise me if they were.”

 

“Georgie had a point the other day, about you being their uncle.”

 

“I did like the sound of that,” he said, leaning his shoulder against hers, “Uncle Jack. I could get used to that.”

 

Jane leaned back against him. “I could, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while procrastinating on my other Mary Poppins fic, mainly to prove to myself that I could actually write a passable Jack.
> 
> Title is a lyric from "The Old Lamp-lighter" by Nat Simon and Charles Tobias.
> 
> Tumblr: Sunshine-Zenith


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